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25 Tips on improving as a jungler by puppylisk
Hello I am puppylisk, I'm an Ex-Top 50 Challenger player and in this article I'm going to be give you 25 tips on how to improve yourself as a jungler. To start off I'm going to give my 3 favorite tips for improving your mentality, and as a player in general, then I'll get into some Jungling tips. These tips will help you learn how where you should be on the map, what you should be doing, and approaching situations helping you become a better player.

Here are my top 3 tips on improving not only as a Jungler but as a player in general

#1: Go into the game with a good mentality
-This is by far one of the biggest rules for playing League of Legends for any role, not just for jungling. Mentality is a key factor in your success for climbing ELO, if you go into a game thinking, wow we already lost at champ select, then you will only play worse and chances are you will start flaming your team and having them play worse as well. Having a good mentality will not only boost your personal performance but will most likely increase your teams performance as well.

#2: On tilt? Take a break!
-I know, I know, you've probably heard this 1,000 times but there is a reason for it, because it's true! When you are on tilt you will generally get frustrated more easily and in turn that makes you do things that you normally wouldn't do or even just fail mechanically. Keep in mind that you are playing this game for enjoyment and entertainment, being stressed out for 45 minutes because you are having a bad session will ruin your enjoyment of the game. Taking a break whether it's 10 minutes or 2 hours will really help you get back on track, I can't stress this enough.

#3: Remember, losses are inevitable
-Another thing that you have probably heard 1,000 times, but once again there is a reason for it, because it's true! Sometimes you will have a game where you have a 1/10 Top laner and a 1/15 Mid laner, while you probably lost the game, you need to remember that things like this will happen, no matter what elo you are in and to just accept it. Getting stressed out in a game that you have no control over can impact your performance on the next game you play, it's much better to just let it go and move on.

#4: Be nice to your team, and compliment other peoples plays
-This tip isn't just to try to be a nice person, when you encourage your team mates and compliment them it often gets them to play better in the longrun. While this will help your teammates it's not the entire reason to do it, the main thing that will happen is your team will be much more susceptible to listen to the calls you make. If you are constantly complimenting your teammates and then ask "let's go push bottom" or "let's go contest this dragon" they will be much more likely to actually listen and follow, making you be a leader for your team.

Ok now that we are done with those general tips, let's get into some actual tips that will help you improve as a Jungler!

#1: Notice enemy aggression and positioning
-As a jungler, most of your ganks should be aimed at the lanes that are showing the most aggression, not only because most of the time the enemy will be overextended but also because when being overly aggressive players tend to have much less map awareness, making your gank haves a much higher success rate. Keep in mind that this isn't always the case but often times it is.

#2: Don't gank a losing lane
-This is one biggest mistakes that I always see in lower ELO, even sometimes higher ELO junglers make, they will gank in a losing lane thinking it will be a free kill and often get counter ganked and will give up 2 kills, or even get 1v2d. If you don't gank a losing lane then your lander will often not be as aggressive and will just safety farm so you don't have the risk of getting double killed. It is much more efficient to just try to snowball a winning lane so you can go into mid game stronger as a team.

#3: Can't find a gank? Farm
-Another big mistake that I see lower elo players make, you should be actively looking for ganks, but only gank when you think that you can get a kill, summoner spell, or at least get a favorable trade for your laners. If a lane is being pushed to the enemy tower then there isn't really a chance for you to get a successful gank, so rather then wasting time trying to gank you can clear a few camps and get the experience and gold it yields instead, which in turn will help you have more potent ganks and a stronger presence later in the game.

#4: If a friendly lane recalls or dies, cover for them and take CS
-This is a very important tip, when your laner recalls or dies, cover their lane for them. The gold and experience from the minions you get from your cover normally exceeds that from what you'd get from your jungle camps. Not only will you get EXP and gold from the minions, but you will also deny your tower taking extra unnecessary damage which gives nearly 1,000 gold globally to the team who kills it.

#5: Camp enemy lanes that have no summoner spells
-Pretty simple, if an enemy doesn't have flash, it's 1 less escape he has to get away from your gank, which will skyrocket your ganks success rate. I will often gank the same lane 3 to 4 times if they don't have flash, even if some of those ganks don't land you a kill, you may give your laner an advantage in the lane from giving him a favorable trade.

#6: Get a kill? Get an Objective!
-This is HUGE! Often at the end of Challenger games, there will be only 25 total deaths, not because they are slow paced games but because when you land a kill you force an objective, rather then just getting a kill, why not get a kill + a tower, a kill + a baron. You should never just be actively seeking kills, but always seeking objectives over kills.

#7: Gank when your ultimate is up
-When your ultimate is up you should be actively seeking to gank. Holding your ultimate is a big mistake that I see lower elo players make, especially with champions like Vi, Jarvan and Nocturne where your ultimates essentially give you a kill. If you have your ultimate off cooldown, gank!

#8: Push lanes if no one is in it, or if you get a kill
-When you land a kill or if the enemy laner backs, you want to fully push their lane so you can deny them Gold and EXP from minions, giving your laner an advantage as well as getting you EXP and gold, if the lane is pushing towards your towers though, you only want to last hit if your laner can make it back in time.

#9: Buy Wards!
-You should always try to carry a pink ward + a vision ward with you, this will help you safely secure objectives such as dragon. Denying vision plays a vital role in picking off kills and essentially giving you more objectives.

#10: Try to not die in teamfights!
-In teamfights as a Jungler you are generally the frontline for your team, but even then you should try to not die in teamfights, so after the teamfight is done you cna help your team secure objectives like Dragon or Baron. Often in the LCS you will see junglers hover around their own teams backlines when they are at low hp, so they can peel for their backline, but also so they can help secure objectives after the teamfight is over

#11: Think about situations before you engage
-This is a vital mentality to have at being a successful jungler, you should always look to think, can we win this 2v2, can we win this 3v3, can we contest this dragon, can we contest this buff. This will often save not only your life, but the lives of your teammates as well. If you you think before you act you will drastically cut down on unfavorable engagements.

#12: Counter jungle when the enemy jungle is far away
-If you see an enemy jungler is bot, you have complete free reign over his top side jungle, which you should always try to take so you can deny him gold, EXP, and buffs. This especially a big deal if their Red/Blue buffs are up, granting you 3 buffs over the enemy junglers 1 and sometimes granting you a kill or 2. If enemy laners come to help get you out of their jungle, you will often be able to have the favorable 2v1 or 3v2.

#13: If the enemy jungler is top or recalled, get dragon!
-If the enemy jungler is in top, this most of the time grants you a free Dragon assuming that your laners aren't very far behind. So if the enemy jungle is top getting tower then get Dragon and trade objective for objective!

#14: Get Scuttlecrab before Dragon/Baron!
-Scuttlecrab is very, very good for when you are trying to do dragon, or baron. Scuttlecrab makes it so even if you are going to disengage from dragon and try to teamfight, you have an extra movement speed to engage on the enemy team, or in vise versa you have movement speed to disengage, this is a must for doing dragon or baron if the enemy team can possibly contest.

#15: Put pressure on the map where the enemy jungler isn't
-When the enemy jungler is on a part of the map where you are to far to counter gank, you should try to apply pressure elsewhere on the map, whether it's stealing is buffs, taking objectivs or ganking a lane, anything to set him and their team behind you should do. You never want to be sitting around twiddling your thumbs and doing nothing.

#16: Try to keep 1 smite charge when you have your jungle item
-One of the top mistakes made at all ELOs, 95% of the time you want to keep at least 1 smite charge ready for use, unless you are getting ready to go recall to base. Not having smite up when you have stalker or skirmisher will often be the difference between landing a kill or not, or possibly contesting a Dragon or Baron.

#17: Abuse health pots!
-Health pots are overpowered no matter what role you are playing! Health pots can make the difference between engaging a fight with 800 HP or 500 HP, I normally buy 2-3 health pots every time I back until about level 12, at which they start to lose their value, or if you are snowballing or built defensive items early.

#18: You don't have to get a kill for it to be a successful gank
-This is something often overlooked by lower ELos, you don't have to land a kill for your gank to be successful, forcing a flash or ultimate or even just trading some free damage can help get your laner ahead, which it's all little things that add up to the bigger picture.

#19: Try to not take risks
-This is a pretty big mistake that all ELO players make, let's say you are 6/0 and you want to towerdive top lane, often times this can result in you getting double killed which helps aid the enemy top laner in getting snowballed, while if you just went back to farming or went to counter jungle or for a safe gank you would have been much more ahead not only personally but as a team since you didn't give those kills away.

#20: If you are ahead, build offensively, if you are behind, build defensively
-When you are ahead you should build offensively up until about 2-3 items, this will help you do more damage and demolish in teamfights and ganks, while if you are behind you should build defensively so you can have more presence in teamfights. If you are about average on gold, you should look at how the game as a team is going, if your team is ahead then you should build 1 offensive item after your jungle item, and then start to build defensively.

#21: Always get your Sweeper trinket on your first or 2nd back
-Always get sweeper trinket on your first or 2nd buy, this will greatly increase the success chance of your ganks, you can sit in a bush and sweep it, and just wait patiently for a gank, 4 times out of 5, you can get a successful gank when the enemy goes to reward or if they overextend and create a gank opportunity.

#22: Ask your laners if the enemy has summoners / ult before ganking
-If you don't know whether the enemies flash or ultimate is up, you should always ask your teammates, whether they know or not. This can help you safely secure a free kill on lanes with no escapes and give your laners an advantage with a free gank.

#23: Always clear a jungle camp early game when your smite is up (1.5 or 2 Charges)
-You should always clear a jungle camp early game when your smite is up early game and you have 1.5 or 2 charges up. This will increase your gold and exp earned, granting you levels which in turn help you deal more damage and have higher survivability.

#24: Always start the side that your botlane is on for the best leash
-This is true 95% of the time, you should always start the side where your botlane is on so you can have better sustain earlier in your jungle. So if you are Top spawn, start gromp, if bot spawn, then start krugs, this will help you taking less damage from the jungle start camp (since it dies quicker) and helps you get your level 3 faster for quicker ganks.

#25: Back after 3 camps and get your jungle item + some health pots
-If you are Bot spawn you should start kruggs to Red buff, to raptors, and then back, go to Blue and try to gank top or mid if possible. If you are Top spawn then you should start Gromp, to blue buff, to raptors and back go to red then look for a gank in mid or top. Getting your jungle item early will increase your gold income early game as well as help make ganks more potent.

I hope you enjoyed my 25 Tips on improving as a Jungler, as well as my 4 basic tips to improving your mindset and as a player. I will soon make a guide for every role and most champions so stay tuned :D